


My fingers wouldn't break the surface until you held them

by krafty



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Diego has two powers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves, Trauma, Whump, Whumptober, no beta we die like ben, that's sarcastic right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:59:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krafty/pseuds/krafty
Summary: Whumptober day 13, Breathe in Breathe out, because I just realized that this existed like three hours agoExploring the mansion is fun until someone finds a room full of tanks
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Everyone, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves
Comments: 9
Kudos: 93





	My fingers wouldn't break the surface until you held them

It’s a cold autumn morn. Warm colored leaves decorate the sidewalks and pathways outside the mansion.

The mansion. The place where all of the Hargreeves siblings have started living again. They haven’t gotten around to fixing it up yet, so every step is like one right back into their childhoods. A bedroom they used to sleep in, a living room they used to play cards in. It’s all the same as it used to be, and it brings back strong memories. Ones you could get lost in for a little while without even trying.

But sometimes these memories aren’t so great. Some drag bad thoughts and actions back to the spotlight. They bring up hidden traumas no one dared to speak about before. That’s why the mausoleum found itself in pieces one foggy night, after some tears and yelling and acceptance. That’s why Vanya’s old holding cell disappeared, and the room became much different, another place to hang out.

And yet. Diego’s the strong one. He hadn’t realized anyone would find the tanks. This wasn’t supposed to be about him, ever. No one was supposed to find out. That’s how it should’ve been.

But on this crisp morning, with its cloudy sky promising rainfall, someone finds a room hidden in the crevices of the entirely too-large house. This isn’t a strange occurrence in the slightest; in fact, it doesn’t bother him at all, at first. But then:

“Guys, come check this out! Tanks!”

Diego freezes at these words. Six simple words. It should be easy.

But it isn’t. His heart catches in his throat, eyes wide, knuckles white from how hard he’s balling them into fists. This shouldn’t be happening. This _can’t_ be happening.

He hears footfalls, a door opening wide. His secrets coming to light.

He has to move, and he knows he has to move, but he doesn’t want to. He wants to stay in his room, shut the door, dim the lights, curl into a ball, and just _forget_ again. It’s easier like that.

Instead, he finds his legs moving. The door to his room opens. He moves on autopilot, one foot in front of the other. Every step brings him closer to a world he doesn’t want to be in, one he doesn’t want to see. All the while he’s thinking, this has got to be some fucked up joke. This can’t be happening.

And yet, the world likes to surprise you like that.

“Do you think we can swim in them?” someone asks, purely curious, he knows. It still makes him shudder; just the thought alone makes him sick. There’s more conversation but he doesn’t hear it.

* * *

Klaus stares at the room full of tanks with wonder. Had this been another experiment, something with fish? Maybe there were octopi in here at some point, for Ben.

He calls to his siblings and can hear each one find their way to him. Diego is slow to leave his room, which is weird, but maybe he’d had to put something away. Who knows?

“Tanks,” he breathes, taking a cautious step inside.

“Do you think we can swim in them?” Allison asks, stepping inside as well. Diego makes a face like someone just killed his cat three times over.

“Is that a no from you, brother dearest?” Diego is silent. “Diego?”

Diego shakes his head, “Th-th-that’s a hh-horrible idea, K-Klaus,” Diego replies, finally. Klaus quirks a brow. His stutter is back. That usually happens when he gets emotional… but what do tanks have to do with his knife-wielding, leather-clad brother?

He wanders further into the room, noting a few chairs and a leftover notepad. That’s… strange. Not too strange considering who lives in this house cough cough FIVE cough cough.

He ventures over to one of the tanks and wonders when it last had water in it. Maybe he could put some in? But it wouldn’t be very fun to swim in. Suitable for winter months, maybe, but definitely not ideal.

Diego still hasn’t stepped into the room. Klaus shoots him a confused look, and he moves closer. Everyone else is picking things up, inspecting old trinkets and furnishings. Exploring. He doesn’t.

“Something’s wrong,” Ben whispers. It’s not like he has to, because he’s a ghost, but some things never change. Klaus shrugs but agrees. Something is fishy.

“Klaus, seriously?”

“What? Did I say that out loud?” Ben just sighs.

* * *

Diego is wrapped up in his head, his thoughts tumbling over each other in their race to get to the forefront of his mind first. He can almost hear chains clinking together, can almost feel the water rushing into the tank.

_Metal tugs at his ankles as he tries to break free. It’s a fruitless effort for a game he cannot win, and yet he still struggles against the impossible weights. He can’t float very far up because of his restraints. He can almost touch the air, fingers grazing the edges of the water. But he can’t break the surface like he wants to._

“Diego?”

_The water is cold, soaks him to the bone. He looks up with bleary eyes. The white ceiling, so so far away and yet ever so close, stares back at him._

“Di?”

He takes a gasp of air in, realizing that he’d been holding his breath out of instinct.

“I-I–” he looks around the room, at the five faces (hopefully six) studying him closely. “I’m f-f-fine.”

_Fighting to keep his head above water yet never breaking the surface after all._

“I’m… I…”

“Didi…?”

Someone walks closer. Close.

_Suffocating in an icy, watery, unforgiving prison, shackled to the floors for hours until he chokes under the pressure._ _Gasping for air but getting saltwater instead. Wondering if anyone would hear his screams from so deep under._

A touch.

_Eyes rimmed red with unshed tears and sorrowful regrets, with anger and terror. A hardened, steely stone mask. Walls that wouldn’t get breached and rooms that wouldn’t be discovered._

He’s being led somewhere, out of the room.

_Wondering if it would ever change. Wishing it would, knowing it wouldn’t. Hiding wet clothes and flinching at the mention of holding his breath. Getting led down to his prison like a willing prisoner, guilty of crimes he didn’t know he’d committed yet knowing he must’ve done something wrong._

Everything fades to the background.

* * *

Klaus isn’t sure what happened. Diego had stopped breathing, he’d looked terrible, and Ben had started spouting off ideas, what to do. Now their knife brother is asleep on the living room couch while everyone tries to figure out what went wrong.

“Something must’ve happened in that room,” Five says. Vanya frowns.

“What could’ve happened?” she asks, eyebrows drawing together. Ben mumbles something.

“Did you say something, Benny boy?” Klaus asks. No one hears him over their own loud conversations. They’re all wondering the same things: what happened? Is he okay? Are they going to change that room, too?

“I, uh. Diego has another power…” Ben whispers, just slightly louder than before. Klaus startles. That wasn’t what he’d expected.

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah, but I think… it’s his place to talk about it.” Klaus nods.

“Do you think that’s why…”

“Yeah.”

Ben and Klaus look to Diego. Hopefully, he wakes up soon.

* * *

Diego opens his eyes to a few pairs of watchful eyes. He moves to sit up on the couch he doesn’t remember placing himself on.

“What happened—?” As he speaks the words with his hoarse voice, the memories come flooding back. He flops back down. “Ah, shit.”

“Diego!” Klaus immediately goes to his side. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah.” The other siblings in the room come to him as well. He offers a weak smile. “Hi.”

“Diego… what happened in there?” It’s Allison speaking. He turns his head. Everyone else seems to be wondering, too.

“W-where’s Five?” The sour grape of the family is clearly missing. Luther speaks up.

“He’s getting coffee. Do you want to wait…?”

“Y-yeah.”

There’s a minute of silence before Five jumps into the room with a flash of blue, coffee cup in hand.

“Oh. You’re up,” is all he has to say. Diego shrugs.

“Yep, I’m u-up.”

“So, are we going to talk about what just happened in there, or…?” Five looks around.

“I… uh. All right.”

* * *

He tells. He tells them about the long hours spent in pools and the now-rusted chains. The choking, the power, the surface of the water glistening before he had to get in. What his special training really was. He tells them everything.

And they listen. They listen, they talk, they figure out what to do next. They don’t make him feel weak or ridicule him like he’d been scared of.

And right now? It’s pretty great.


End file.
